LIU Brooklyn names Brad Cohen interim athletic director

John Suarez has stepped down as LIU Brooklyn’s athletic director after 17 years on the job. Photo courtesy of LIU Brooklyn Athletics.

Longtime school official Brad Cohen tabbed for interim gig

LIU Brooklyn names Brad Cohen as its interim athletic director to replace John Suarez, who had the job for 17 years, until a permanent replacement is found, the Downtown Brooklyn college announced last week. Cohen has worked at LIU Brooklyn for 20 years in various roles. Most recently, he was director of campus services and human resources. He will oversee the school’s athletics until a permanent AD is chosen.

Cohen replaces John Suarez, who stepped down this month after he served as athletic director since 1997.

Here is an excerpt on my story about Suarez stepping down:

Suarez has been a key figure at LIU Brooklyn during his tenure as he worked to get the Blackbirds out of the Paramount Theater and into the $45 million Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center and helped to renovate LIU Field as well. He also helped to workout a partnership with the Barclays Center that LIU Brooklyn’s teams have enjoyed using since it opened.

His teams also thrived, especially the basketball team that won an unprecedented three consecutive Northeast Conference championships starting in the 2010-11 season. The Blackbirds won a 46 NEC titles in total under him including 34 in the last 10 years and 12 over the last three, the most in school history over a three-year span.

The student-athletes also thrived under Suarez as they compiled a cumulative GPA above a 3.0 for 28 consecutive semesters, or 14 years, with the men’s soccer team earning the top academic honors in the country in 2013.

Still no word on who the permanent replacement will be. As soon as there is an official announcement, I will post an update to the blog. Making Cohen the interim AD gives them some leeway though as fall teams have already begun practicing and start playing games on Friday.

By the way, once news of Suarez’s departure hit the internet, John Ziznewski, who is currently in the Chicago White Sox organization, commented on Twitter. He said, “Mr. Suarez is a great AD and a great man. We have a lot of respect and I can’t thank him enough.”

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